Update: Nothing illegal here. Virginia reused envelopes from last year.
EDIT: See @AnimePhantasm comment below! My friend called the election board and they confirmed what @AnimePhantasm and @fmstrat commented! This was Virginia reusing last year’s envelopes.
OP I am an absentee voter in Blacksburg just next door.
Shine a light on the blacked out part. I am 99% sure this is legit, they just crossed out the witness requirement. I can see the word witness under the sharpie in your picture. Virgina doesnt have to do that witness thing anymore. We did at the last general election, so I am guessing they just reused the same envelopes.
You should call and ask your elections office before alerting the news. They are hardworking folks whose jobs are already 100 times harder then they used to be. Stirring up reports of election fraud where it isn't happening makes us just as bad as them.
Could be old instructions for witness signatures vs anything malicious. Be sure this is a real issue first. Last time they sent out conflicting instructions which was worse. But yes, report it to be safe.
Joan Porte, vice president of the Virginia League of Women Voters and an Arlington resident, said she was furious when she saw the error on the envelope, which could have been solved, she said, by crossing it out with a marker.